Category: Life

Left out of the Federal Budget, still no job and a Centrelink catastrophe

The Federal Government’s 2020 budget released in October has a particular segment of the population worried, and I am in this segment: people over 35 years old. The government has incentivised employers to hire people under 35, subsidising those who hire in the 16-30 age bracket $200 a week, and $100 a week for 30-35s. …

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An open letter to my friends, from Mona Clenlow

Hi. How are you? Like how are you really? I’ve been thinking about you. I’m sorry I haven’t been in touch. I don’t know what to say really. I haven’t been doing anything much. Probably the same as you. I’m ok. Not great. Sometimes crap but mostly just ok. It’s hard, isn’t it? This pause. …

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Jenessa Abernathy on Quilting in the Time of Covid

I’ve been sewing lately. It brings me peace. With all the hate and ignorance spouting forth I need to arm myself with knowledge and do things that make me calm and focused. I usually make dance costumes but lately I’ve been making quilts. And masks. Lots of masks. Designing quilts made me realise that maths …

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Unpacking a Life – The Wanderer’s Art of Moving (Part 1)

I’ve moved a lot over the years, maybe more than I should have. Perhaps this makes me a wanderer. I am less of a physical wanderer now, at least at the moment, but over fifteen years I lived in four different cities, often moving within cities. I first left Sydney for Canberra. Fittingly perhaps, as …

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Sascha Percuoco on what makes a man

A man comes in many forms, short, fat or tall. But is it his stature? Or the attitude? Or is it any of that at all? Because some men are crazy, they’re murderers and thieves, but in their minds they are men, for in god they still believe. Isn’t it a “man” of god? But …

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Work, mortality and coffee

It’s been several weeks since my last update and to be honest, Covid-19 has hit my motivation like a punch in the stomach. It’s a shock on a global scale, flooring health services around the world and sending economies into a tailspin. On a personal level, it has made the futures of many of us …

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From the castle to the office – Charlene Cat

With the world shutting down as we navigate a viral menace on a scale not scene for generations, writing is still the go-to way to unveil our deep anxieties and inner struggles. For Charlene Cat, a young lawyer from Foshan (Guangdong), now living in Sydney, what should be a routine evening is now a mission. …

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Nice doggy – guest post by Blue Collar Lawyer

Lawyer, Accountant, Consultant and observer of wry things, Sam – otherwise known as the Blue Collar Lawyer (also known as the International Man of Mystery) grew up in 20 countries as his parents assumed a variety of UN postings. Almost a generation ago he kept a blog. I share his writing here and pray he …

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My mysterious origins

I am often asked where I am from. I have lived in four cities now. Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and London. Or three and half cities, for those of you who don’t grant Canberra city status. I’ve learnt to say a variety of things depending on the situation, time of day, attention span of the questioner, direction …

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